Back in the saddle... and the tub is on!!!

I'm back!

It's been almost 2 months since my last post!  Since we last met, a host of factors have kept me largely out of the shop:
1.  A heat wave (and summer in general).
2.  A boat (though that is a weak excuse).
3.  Competing projects (we'll get to that later).

There has been progress, which has come in fits and starts, which explains why I just couldn't justify sitting at the computer (not to mention the fact that summer evenings are NOT for computing) .  Posts might have read like this:  "Got up.  Went out to the shop.  Started cleaning a part.  Sweat so much the dust turned to mud on my face.  Quit and got a beer."

My progress took a major leap this past week when I mated the tub to the chassis.  (I see all of you jumping to the pics!)

Now that you're back lets look at the less glorious achievements:

Hub caps:  In my last post I introduced you all to these little beauties.  Rare as hen's teeth and all mine, thanks to another ebayer.  I had explained that the caps were very nice, sans a bit of surface rust.  What I loved the most was the gold paint on the embossed lettering.  I was intent on saving it.  The problem:  refinish the entire black surfaces while preserving the gold embossing.  Hmmm.  I thought long and hard on this.  I surmised that the lettering could be protected by a water soluble product (?) of some kind.  Here is the cap (1 of 2) at the start.

I ran a few experiments with food stuff (peanut butter, dough, etc) but nothing stuck. ;-)  Then after some further contemplation decided regular motor oil would be it.  I used a very fine capillary tube to drop, drop, drop just the right amount of oil onto the lettering and circle to see if it would coat as I expected, and it did!  So I went about sanding and cleaning every part but the embossed areas, then I repeated the drops of oil with the caps on a very stable and level surface.  Then it was straightforward priming and painting.

After a few days of drying time (I needed the paint completely cured before attempting to clean the lettering), I took the caps into the kitchen where I gently washed the caps with warm soapy water.  Cap ONE was a freaking complete success!  The paint was perfect up to the small bath of oil and with a bit of scrubbing the original gold shown through.  Cap TWO was going almost as well when I came upon an area about a half inch long in the circle where the black-over-oil wasn't budging.  After an hour of fruitless labor two things became infinitely clear:

1.  I missed spreading the oil on a half-inch section of the circle.
2.  This SEM paint is fuc*ing INDESTRUCTIBLE!

After an hour of attempts to remove the black

So, in the end, all I did was scrape off the original gold paint so badly that the project was DEAD.  Start over, Bob.  I bought some gold model paint, re-sanded the cap, painted it all black and then, using a similar capillary tube, dripped in the new gold paint.  Ain't perfect, but it will do!

This is the one I painted with GOLD

This is the one I was able to preserve the original GOLD

The oiler and the painter capillary tubes

Starter motor and carburetor fan:  Did he just write "carburetor fan"?  Toyota must have known these vehicles were going to end up in dry deserts, so they smartly added this little baby.  It goes like this:  During your safari, you run down a herd of rhinos and then run from an angry pride of lions which really heats up the heavy cast iron block of your 4.2 L engine.  After successfully eluding these and several other wild animals, you stop to treat your guests to a Buffalo steak and a decanter of fine French Merlot.  At the end of the feast, you find yourself the focus of 100 of your dinner's closest friends, a bit angry over the menu, and which collectively charge your party.  You all quickly bale into the trusty FJ40 and escape unscathed!  You and your guests might have perished had it not been for the forethought of the Toyota designers, who added this fan which cools the carburetor and intake enough to keep the fuel in the bowl from boiling off.  Cool, huh?

My truck has headers and there is no need for the fan, but It's just too cool to eliminate!

Before

After

After 2

The starter on this truck appears to be a fairly recent replacement.  Of course the reason why this particular vehicle caught my eye was the lack of rust.  So, it may be an original, who knows.  After my final coat of paint was applied, it began to rain so I hurredly brought it into my shop where I (as I often do) hung the wire from the door track.  This time however, I hung it too far towards the door, not thinking...

When the rain abated and the sun made it's return, I grabbed the overhead door and (with great joy) flung it open.  The top roller hit the wire holding the starter, and...

DOWN IT CAME!  Right on the open bottom drawer :-( Crunch.

The drawer broke the fall.  The GOOD:  The motor survived.  The BAD:  The drawer did not.

Here is a before and after.  And one with it mounted up to the engine.

Mounted!!

Other sh.. Stuff:

Front drive shaft

Front coupling at transfer output shaft (new bolts)

Can you guess what these little interesting parts are for?

It's a great lead-in for the next project:  The body mounts.  

These are the clips that keep the center two (of six) body bolts from moving up while you're attaching the washers and nuts. The bolts have a unique architecture (the pics are on another device so I'll post later) that, once in place, keeps them from rotating after they are inserted.  I'm lucky to have found mine in perfect shape.  The clips clamp onto the sheet metal of the body and hold the heads of the bolts from moving up, allowing one person to thread on the nuts and tighten them with one hand (and one ratchet)!  I tried to capture this with this photo.

Body Mounts:  The polyurethane body mounts seemed to be the only replacement mounts on the market.  Each of my preferred vendors sold them, so I have to assume they are the best.  But we're talking about a self-professed perfectionist of the anal retentive kind.  So, naturally, I hate them.  Who the hell designed these things?  I had to make so many modifications, I'm thinking of creating my own set for the retail market.  None fit to my liking at first.... but they do now!  Just one of the mods:  A nylon spacer to keep the steel bushing from contacting the chassis.  I just happened to have a slab of 1/2" thick nylon... Go figure :-)

Cut the inside hole then cut out the disk

Fit to bushing... Good!

Slip into the lower mount

Check fit of complete set (new bushing fits through hole in chassis)

 I bought and installed all new flexible, braided stainless steel brake lines and then restored all the hard lines and coated with black paint.  But, I'll let the curious eyes find these in the photos of the final project: 

Mating the body tub to the chassis!!!!

 I'll let the pictures do the talking...

Old tires and American Racing rims to be replaced with
powder-coated stock OEM white spoke rims and 33" BFG Mud Terrains
(when the budget allows)

Clutch slave with new SS braided hose

Braided SS flex lines for brakes and clutch hydraulics

OEM exact replacement clips, of course!

More OEM clips!

All new bolts and original wire clamps, restored.

E-brake, hub caps and a little cable in hiding!

It's either been too stinking hot to work on my truck, or I've been unable to find the time.  However, despite the oppressive humidity, I did find time to squeak out a few important projects this weekend.

Project 1:  E-brake

The Land Cruiser e-brake is a drum bolted onto the output shaft of the transfer case between the transmission and the rear driveshaft.  The advantage is that there is but one set of shoes, adjusters, cables, etc.  Less to go wrong.  Probably, the trucks place in the military and outback contributed to the design.  The one flaw is that the output shaft passes through a seal that lasts only so long.  Once that seal fails, this technological anomaly becomes an unwelcome oil-slinger.  Take a look, about midway, under any Land Cruiser and your likely to find the area to the rear of the transfer case a disgusting mess.

There are two parts that appear very much as any drum brake system will look.  A backing plate with two shoes and a mechanical spreader (no hydraulics).  Then the "shaft" drum, with a polished outside and splined inside, rides on the output shaft of the transfer.  Here are the pics of my cleaning, painting and installing.

Finally the e-brake is back on the truck!  There is still a little work to do (cable, drum) but it's good to see this kind of progress, albeit small.

Taken from the right rear of the truck

Taken directly on, in line with the driveshaft

Project 2:  Hub caps

This was the second set of caps I bought used on Ebay.  The first set was NOT (as the seller suggested) applicable to the TLC (Toyota Land Cruiser).  He was guessing that the part for the mini-truck might fit, and I thought so, too.  This set however is the real McCoy.  Rarer than hen's teeth!  Got very lucky and scored on the price, too.  So there was a small amount of road rash and rust to remove.  Paint is black and the lettering is oh-so-perfect gold.  So, black is easy, but how to preserve the gold?  Still thinking...  I don't want to paint over and re-letter... too hard.  And the paint would never be as resilient, or good looking.

Project #3:  Speedo drive.

You may recall the speedo drive gear discussion.  To recap, there are a variety of gear ratios to accomodate tire size affects on the recorded speed.  Toyota never intended a gear for oversize tires, but my intention is to be as close as the available parts will let me.  I'll dispense with the details of the parts, and jump to the problem.  My old gear is frozen on the cable!  So, I've been soaking the union (slip fit, with key) in PB Blaster for two weeks.  Time has come to see if they'll come apart... and they did with a light tap (thanks Nan).  I'm a bit worried that the driving gear will wear this new plastic part (information about this modification is anecdotal, at best!).  Well, after assembling the new gear and test fitting, all seems (statically) okay.  A few spins of the drum and it seems to turn smoothly.  No pics of the trial fit... sorry.  Next time.

Old gear frozen in place (rust)

Apart!

Old vs new (new is 1 tooth extra)

Finally, two tidbits:  First,  the chain oil you see below has been on my (or my Dad's) shelf for over 35 years.  Yes, nearly forty birthdays!  I bought this can to go with a Schwinn bicycle I bought as a teenager.  It is still holding pressure, AND is the damnedest best oil you have ever seen.  A little goes a long way.  I'll hate to see it go, but at this point I think it may outlive me!

Second:  When my truck was delivered in late June 2005, the seller included a new e-brake cable as the e-brake was frozen (recall the "slinger") and he was pretty sure it was a seized cable.  It wasn't and I was able to get it working when I replaced said oil seal.  However, this part is the very first new or used part ever stocked for this project and it has been waiting patiently at the bottom of a Rubbermaid tub for its moment to shine.  That time has come!  Next time...  Different Bat Time, same Bat Channel.

Transmission and transfer case!

Warning!  Language not intended for children, adults, humans, or, really, any living thing...

This post is going to be short and sweet.

So, my good friend Orlando decides this will be the afternoon that he chides me into removing the shrink wrap from my very dejected boat (she is usually plying the waves by April).  He is unwittingly right-on in warning me that the boat might be growing mold and mildew under that skin, but I saw through the pretense...  He really just wanted to go fishing!  (I really WAS worrying about the mold and mildew.)

But, deviously, I agreed to take on the boat while really needing his help for a much less appealing endeavor.  In fairness, I didn't think my other less appealing task, which was to install the transmission/transfer assembly in the Land Cruiser, was any more than an hours' job (utt oh).  But I needed help on this one, as the damn thing weighs well over 100 pounds (I guess about 125) and I can't do it alone.

So, he arrives and learns of my devious plan (ain't too happy 'bout it either) but, like all good friends, rolls up his sleeves and grabs a wrench.  I'll let the photo's explain what's involved:  NOTHING!  Hear me?  NOTHING!  I had the lift.  I had the straps.  I had a MASTER FUCKING MECHANIC!  It was 80 glorious degrees and low humidity.  Plenty of light.  We were motivated (recall... a fishing trip!).  If we were missing anything it was a waitress and a Mai Tai.

So, here is the position of the tranny it took all of 10 minutes to achieve.  The splined shaft is lined up with the PROPERLY aligned clutch/flywheel.  Grease and oil where it was needed.  I obsessed over this alignment, knowing how very important it is.

And here is the position after 2 hours of LIFTING, WIGGLING and SHAKING 125 lbs OF STEEL.  TWO HOURS OF SCREAMING, BLAMING, YELLING, CRYING, AND TELLING EACH OTHER THAT WE WERE A DISGRACE TO THE HUMAN RACE AND SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN BORN!

That's right, same dang place!  I'd have had better luck getting my spline into Gisele Bundchen's clutch, for Christ's sake.  Then, at 10:30 PM, about 5 minutes before the sky was to fall (really), and 4 minutes before I would lose all respect from a good friend, I made a suggestion.  It went something like this, "WE PUT THAT FUCKING STRAP BACK ON AND DO THIS MY WAY YOU (expletives deleted) OR I AM GOING TO BED!"  By now, we have gotten to a place that made me very uncomfortable.  Murder-suicide!  (I'm not really sure whom would have assumed the role of killer and who the killee, and thank God fate stepped in).  Right before the crime was to take place, the Gods of Perpetual Motion let this 14 spline (?) shaft slip right into that freaking hole as nice as could be.  And here are a couple to prove it!

 
Notice my honorable friend at the end of that ratchet?  Still on the job after the boss berated him like a cheap whore!  Okay, a very expensive whore.  Thank you, Orlando!

I need a helper this weekend... Any takers?

(no animals were hurt in the making of this blog)

Worth the wait... Some real progress tonight!

Thanks for coming by!

I want to acknowledge everyone (not individually mind you!) for reading this blog.  I can't be sure how it happened, but I've learned that many more friends and family are following my trials and tribulations than I imagined.   I thank you and will try to keep it light!

Word for the day: "Irrigation"
The weather man tells me we had the 3rd wettest June on record.  I'd call that irrigation.  And yet, my lawn looks no better than it did on July 1st in 2012, 2011, 2010... well, you get the picture.  I'd say the dormancy thing is genetically coded in the rye grass.  15 inches of water, but it's not fooled!  And that's a good thing because I HATE MOWING IN JULY!

Okay, progress has been slow during the last few weeks.  My uncles memorial (great party though!), Courtney's graduation (Yippee!) and a host of other early summer distractions.  That's okay because if you think I'm worried that one of you fools is going to take this project away from me, I'm not.  It's not going anywhere!  So on I plod.  There have, as always, been a slew of petty projects.



Rocker Assembly - I dug it out of it's hiding place, which I kept clean, thankfully.  Let's see, where are those pesky push-rods?  I put them in a flat box, labeled 1-12 and taped them down.  Okay, once found, they went into a bath of mineral spirits and cleaned with Scotch-Brite.  Then, I dropped them into their respective holes (careful to not lose position) and oiled liberally.  Then, the rockers get another spritz of WD-40 before getting dropped onto the head.  For now, I've just torqued the hold down bolts but kept the adjusters finger tight.

Next, install the intake manifold and carburetor.  It turns out that what I thought would be a trivial little task became a more involved project.  First, while it appeared that the exhaust headers aligned pretty well,  it had to be just right to allow the intake to fit and allow me to finger tighten the hold down bolts.  Then, I discovered that the hardware was not installed properly before I disassembled the engine.  No problems and there was no lasting damage, so with the correct washers and a wee bit of MacGyvering, the manifolds are on and tight!  Hip, hip, hooray!

Today (Tuesday, July 1) I came home from some successful field work and, feeling all powerful, I decided this evening would be the evening to reassemble the tranmission and transfer case.  I had spent the weekend cleaning the remaining road grime from the transfer and preparing it for the new seals and gaskets. The tranmission was a used (warranty = 1 year) unit, but I wanted to replace the one critical seal at the front shaft.  Again, I have all the parts, so time is a-wasting.  No photos of the tranny seal, but here is the cover I removed (you can see the paint missing from the bolts) and the seal is pressed into a recess in the back of that cover.  Also, a new gasket was installed.

On the transfer, I wanted to replace all the seals and check the bearings.  The auxilliary drive (otherwise called the FRONT drive) has it's own shaft and coupling on the transfer case.  I removed the coupling and replaced the main seal.  The new one was a bit different with a "cup" seal that rides up behind the back of the flange.  The bearing was a bit dirty (shown here) and I gave it a flush with spirits and then a bath of oil before installing the seal and flange.  I clamped the flange in the vise to keep it from spinning while I torqued the nut.

No ridge on the bearing surface.  Oh so fine!

This bearing cleaned up nicely.

 80 ft/lbs

I could spend another hour on this little puppy and bore you to tears, but I'm going to throw in a few random pics of the reassembly and the finished unit.

Bottom line, the tranny/transfer is assembled and ready to install.  I had my sons-in-law-to-be (or maybe not-to-be) with me when we got the assembly between the truck's legs, ready for insertion (smile) when I decided to call it a night.  It was too late to work, but not too late for a cold pop!  So we got a cold pop and headed for the ranch.

If there are typos, too bad:  it's 12:30AM!!!!  See y'all next time! (ya hear?)